Arthur looked at Rafael.
His golden eyes were erratically switching between himself and Boro.
Slowly and carefully Arthur let down his saber, locking eyes with Rafael.
"Look, I'm sure we can work something out together. You could start by explaining to us why you were captured by those masked people and whether we are still in danger." Arthur tried to reason.
His voice was calm and he tried his best not to sound agitated.
A fairly difficult task, considering there was a literal knife at his throat.
"Oh, and if you could be so kind as to tell this guy to lower his weapon, it would be most delightful. Otherwise, I won't be able to guarantee what my friend over here is going to try." Arthur continued, first pointing at Boro and then hinting at the bodies littered about with his eyes.
Rafael looked at him warily.
"I'll gladly comply once you tell me just what in the heavens happened yesterday."
"I think you're going to have to ask Boro then. I'm not too sure myself either."
Arthur chuckled nervously, sending his friend a short, curious glance. He himself was interested in that matter just as much as the boy who had taken him hostage.
He had struggled so much despite only facing a single bandit and yet Boro had taken them all down without receiving a scratch.
Boro's impressive combat prowess was no news to him; past incidents had painted them in a rather clear picture, but this was something else entirely. Especially if his theory, that there had been multiple mages among them, was correct.
Boro hadn't been paying attention, as usual.
Ignoring the expectant looks, the two boys shot at him, he mustered the corpses of the bandits.
Then he strolled over to one of them, knelt down and...
'He can't be serious right now.' Arthur thought, deeply frustrated with his friend.
"Boro, what did we say about eating other humans?" He asked in a scolding tone.
"I know, I know. But I haven't had breakfast yet and from the looks of it, I'll have to wait until you guys are finished arguing. So either you guys get along with each other and shut up so we can go get something to eat or I'll help myself. Entirely your choice." Boro retorted, sending them an annoyed look over the shoulder.
Rafael opened his mouth, then closed it after a moment and finally looked back at Arthur, clearly disturbed.
Arthur shrugged apologetically, his eyes screaming, "I don't know either!"
"I- I guess we could grab a bite." Rafael stuttered, flustered by Boro's odd behaviour.
"Can I trust you, Arthur?" He asked, his eyes taking on a slight shimmer.
"That depends entirely on what you are going to tell us. But generally speaking, I would think so. After all, if we had the intention of causing you harm, we could have done so in your sleep, as my friend has already mentioned." Arthur replied, trying to stay as honest as he could. He had guessed Rafael was a mage by now.
His first suspicions had come after somebody had appeared behind him instantly and without warning, and now that he saw Rafael's glowing eyes, he was sure of it.
In his younger years, his father had taught him that lying to a mage was often pointless, as they often had the means to detect lies.
Lying would only bring him harm right now, so he decided to stick with the truth as closely as he could.
"And your... friend isn't going to try anything funny if I let you go?" Rafael asked, his voice dripping with suspicion.
"I think so. Right Boro?"
Arthur sent his friend a pleading glance but Boro was still eyeing the corpses.
"Can we please just get something to eat? I'm starving!" He finally said, turning to face both of them. A deep hunger filled his eyes, making both of them shiver slightly under his gaze.
Rafael's stomach growled.
"Well, I could certainly go for a bite as well."
He mustered Arthur one last time and waved his hand dismissively. The pressure in Arthur's back suddenly vanished. The knife was gone and a pleasant breeze had taken its place.
*****
A few minutes later they sat back inside the carriage. A small feast they had scavenged lay on the floor, and they happily stuffed their faces with delicious food.
Boro especially seemed hungrier than usual. Something Arthur had never thought he would ever see, since the amounts of food Boro devoured regularly were petrifying as they were already.
The food that had piled on the floor just a few moments ago was depleting at a frightening pace, making Arthur imagine how Boro's stomach would probably explode any moment now.
Just how did he do it? Arthur didn't know.
Arthur was in the process of explaining the events of last night to the best of his ability.
"And that's when I saw the bandits capturing you as I was searching for Boro." Arthur took a big bite out of a sandwich and continued talking while munching. Boro's bad habits were slowly infecting him it seemed.
"So one of them followed me and threw homing, flying knives at me. Luckily Boro arrived as he was about to end my life. I don't know what I would have done without him."
'Scary thoughts.' Arthur trembled.
"What I still don't understand is how Boro could possibly have taken care of all of them. Most of them were powerful and respected mages, they wouldn't die so easily at the hands of a mere child who can't even channel properly yet." Rafael chimed in, looking at Arthur in disbelief.
"I'm still wondering about that myself. Care to give us an explanation Boro?" Arthur replied.
Boro let out a short burp. Then he looked up from his meal and started explaining.
"Well, I had a vision in the forest, I think the night watcher's bells made me remember something. Something important and terrifying. Luckily the bells stopped before it got unbearable."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Rafael interrupted him, disbelief written all over his face.
"Let him finish," Arthur said. If Boro thought it was worth mentioning it most likely held some significance.
Boro took a sip from a leather flagon and continued explaining. "After my vision stopped, I sped over to Art and got rid of the bandits. Then I wrapped Art's shoulder and extracted the poison from both of your bodies." Boro stopped talking and took another bite.
The other two looked at him expectantly.
"What?" Boro asked with a full mouth.
"What do you mean what? How does that explain anything?!" Rafael cried out, and for once, Arthur was on his side.
"How in the heavens did you kill them?"
Boro looked at Rafael oddly.
"Didn't I explain I had a bad vision? I simply offloaded some of the memories onto their minds to ease the pressure on my own. A spawn of Hastur should know at least that much."
"What did you just call me?" Rafael was furious. Had this vermin just insulted his ancestors or something?
"You're not even aware of your own roots? You even tricked a spirit into being your slave; clearly, you follow his teachings." Boro replied, shaking his head at this child's foolishness.
"I did not enslave a spirit! He's my good friend and sworn protector, as the heir of the Assatur Kingdom I would never do something so vile!" Rafael shouted, then he paused. Had he revealed one of his secrets just like that? He got pale. This wasn't good.
'Heir to a Kingdom huh?' Quite a boast in Arthur's opinion. So it had been a spirit that held him hostage earlier.
"Keep telling yourself that, you might believe it someday," Boro said, entirely unbothered.
"Anyways, the pressure was too much for them to handle so they died. It's as simple as that."
Arthur and Rafael exchanged glances. How was any of what Boro had just said simple?
Arthur coughed.
"Don't worry Rafael, your secret is safe with us."
"Thanks, Arthur. If you keep your word I'll pay you back someday, I swear it upon my name!" Rafael said, placing his right hand on his heart.
"No need for that but thank you for the offer," Arthur replied with a soft smile.
"So about what you said earlier. You mentioned some sort of cult? What's up with that?"
Rafael's face turned solemn.
"It's a long story." He said.
"Well, we have time. And we need to know what we have gotten ourselves into. You owe us at least that much. Arthur replied.